Andrew Luck would accept a gay teammate

Posted by Mike Florio on June 1, 2013, 11:12 AM EDT

AP

A week after a prominent NFL offensive player exercised his right to express disagreement with same-sex marriage, another prominent NFL offensive player has publicly declared that he would welcome a gay teammate.

“I hope if someone’s thinking about [coming out], that if they do come out as gay and it makes them happy and it makes their life easier, then I think they should do it,” Colts quarterback Andrew Luck told CNN, via theindychannel.com. “My first reaction is really good for him. . . .

“It’s the 21st century, and I know I would have absolutely no problem with it. I hope no one would treat him any differently than any straight player, no special treatment — he’s just another guy.”

The problem remains that coming out makes a player who is “just another guy” into something more than that. As we’ve said repeatedly (and as NBA player Jason Collins explained when he came out), players don’t want to create distractions for the team.

The problem is that, to get to the point where being openly gay isn’t a distraction, someone needs to be the one who eases us all into the hot tub of water. It will only cease to be a big deal after someone does it, the media saturates the story (like it did with Jason Collins), and then we all realize that the world is still spinning while rotating around a giant ball of perpetually burning gas.

That’s where nature and choice collide. Players are who they are. Whether they choose to conceal it or to acknowledge it is up to them. Eventually, someone will choose to acknowledge it, even if his motives eventually are scrutinized by those who think that he should keep his sexuality to himself.

Either way, here’s hoping that no one is pressured into remaining closeted, or alternatively into coming out in order to satisfy someone else’s agenda.

Anyone with half a brain would have to come out and say they would accept a gay teammate even if they wouldn’t. The liberal media would harass them and write all kinds of articles implying they are narrow minded bigots.
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Honest question that I have asked before but yet to hear an answer…

To anyone that supports gay marriage, do you also support incest? Is anyone that disagree’s with incest also a bigot?

Don’t all the same arguments that apply to being gay, also apply to incest?

… 2 consenting adults… what they do in their bedroom is their business… why do I care who they love?…. etc…

The fact that we ARE talking about this still in 2013 means that we still have a long way to go, and kudos for anyone bringing awareness to this topic. Society needs to stop sweeping it under the carpet and ignoring it thinking that means acceptance. Awareness is progress.

Despite some people’s objections, a person should have the right to be who they are instead of hiding it. It’s 2013, time to stop discriminating against people just because it offends your dogmatic view of how society “should be”. To those who say that football players should stick to just football, they have as much of a right of expression as you do, so while you may not think this whole situation is important, you couldn’t be more incorrect

I agree with my boy Luck. Who care what someone’s sexual status is…as long as he can play, he deserves to be on a team.

The part where Florio is wrong is the hoping for the day when it isn’t a big deal. Really? Know how it becomes no big deal? Maybe if every media outlet didn’t make a player coming out as the #1 story in the world, then maybe other players would feel free to come out without the worry about it being a distraction.

The media creates the distraction, not society. A majority of us don’t care what someone’s sexuality is.

I dont want to cause a distraction to other commenters, not trying to stir up a media circus, but i feel like the closet walls are closing in around me… I am the first gay commenter, and i hope other commenters can just treat me like any other commenter

Charles Barkley said the other day that when he was playing, he knew there were a few gay players he played against. That made me think, as tight knit as NFL players are in their own groups, D line, O line, running backs.etc.. you have to believe they know of a few of “their own” that are gay. So if they know it and don’t care, why should we?

Can we please just get back to football? I would rather hear how RG3 is the most awesome QB/human being of all time then re-running this same tired non issue, non football crap over and over.

If you don’t like the gay articles simply don’t take the time to click, read the whole article, & comment on it too. Some people will complain about any & everything. I mean, the word gay is in the title, what did you think it was gonna be about?

People have the right to be gay if they want. That is their choice. I choose to be a Christian. I can still care for people and support them as human beings and not agree with them. The same Jesus that died for my sins died for theirs as well. Now can we get past having to have articles telling us how everyone feels about the situation?

I feel like the gay issue is a hammer, and the media, politicians, and the politically correct sheep crowd have been beating us over the head with this hammer.

Really… over no injustices other than a right to marry. This isnt comparable to human rights injustices like civil rights. Not even like womens lib. Just a right to marry. Marriage isnt something the federal government should control anyway! Why not just fight against that?

Marriage is between 2 people and their spiritual Icon of choice. (Not that I or most spiritual beliefs agree with gay marriage cuz I dont)… but get government out of it and make it a personal decision and quit forcing laws on everyone. More important, quit forcing a way of thinking on everyone.

Truthfactor the answer to your question is a simple one. Incest is a crime. Now I believe marriage should be man and woman but to equate the two you have is asinine. Having a gay relationship is not a crime you knucklehead. You do realize that right?

To equate incest with being gay is ridiculous.. as stated above incest is a crime and a whole different thing….If you were right it would mean all us gay people were having sex with family members… How stupid does that make you look…

Also to say that gay people aren’t Christians is stupid… I know many and I am pretty sure that the percentage of straight people that consider themselves Christians and/or go to church is no different than the percentage of gay people that consider themselves Christians and/or go to church

When you say otherwise on either of these you are only showing either your bigotry or your lack of intelligence… maybe both…

truthfactory – here’s your answer; incestuous relationships (hetero) can result in offspring that weaken the gene pool; that is the original and main reason incest became “bad”. I would oppose any gay couples if they attempted to create a fetus that was from egg/sperm that would constitute incest in a straight couple; That is the only reason they compare

I would have to quote Sir Charles Barkley ( I don’t care who that guy sleep with last night and I will not care who that guys sleeps with tonight) Why because it’s non of my business and no body else’s business. Should put more effort and worry about what you are doing than worrying about what somebody else is doing.

It all boils down to how good the player that comes out of the closet is. If Aaron Rodgers were to come out he would be widely accepted by both players and fans. If Mark Sanchez came out he would get killed

Jun 1, 2013 12:23 PM
Truthfactor the answer to your question is a simple one. Incest is a crime. Now I believe marriage should be man and woman but to equate the two you have is asinine. Having a gay relationship is not a crime you knucklehead. You do realize that right?
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That is my point! Where is the outrage that its a crime?!? Who are we to say who they can love?? My point is that anyone who supports gay marriage should also support incest. Otherwise you’re a hipocrite.

Being someone who disagrees with this site alot I really enjoyed this piece and agreed with most, if not all of it. The problem may also stem from a tebow effect. Teams have seemed to shy away from the media lately. They take problem players more then media darlings. That could scare a player from coming out realizing the media would be hurting him and his cause by the attention he would get. I think the best way to har it happen is for someone to come out then ban press conferences for the next 6 months so it can blow over without(hopfully) being to much of a distraction and maybe, just maybe the media will wise up, shut up and jut let the man live a natural life after he comes out rather then glorifying him til he gets tebowed

I wonder when toe suckers are going to be able to proudly proclaim their identity in the NFL? How long have they had to hide their preference and feel ashamed? Polygamists also come to mind. They all LOVE to do what they do, and after all, isn’t that the only important thing right now? I will be checking daily to find out when these oppressed individuals will be free to operate in world full of haters.

When opponents of gay marriage have to resort to equating it to incest or bestiality, they’ve admitted they have no logical argument and have lost the debate

So called “conservatives” who want less government suddenly become liberal in wanting the government to legislate bedroom issues involving sex because of their own hang ups

Still – as marriage is a religious sacrament, I understand why many get up in arms. The problem started when the government used a religious term for a civil ceremony – that confuses enrages those who can’t see the distinction between church and state

atlfan31833 says:
Jun 1, 2013 11:56 AM
People have the right to be gay if they want. That is their choice. I choose to be a Christian.
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These three sentences written in consecutive order show a clear lack of understanding of sexuality. Sexuality is not a choice. It is not something that one wakes up and has to make a decision on based upon variable factors. Religion is a choice. Being an Atlanta fan is a choice. Dinner is a choice. But sexuality, again, is NOT a choice.

Fievel03. They still choose who they date based on what they feel. It’s a strange world we live in. Hear me out on this one. If being gay isn’t a choice but we are supposed to believe also that we had no creator(religion) then the only reason we are on this earth really is to repopulate. So in that sense and since science has “proven” love to not be real, wouldn’t that alone throw out this whole argument?

I’m just trying to think of it from a liberal way. I won’t take a side in this because I don’t give a crap what our government rules my religious beliefs will always matter more. Let they have the legal rights of any couple. That’s fine. When I get married, it will be in a church of my religion and I don’t even care to sign the marriage license as long as I am married in the eyes of god.

Good for Andrew. Way to go! It’s funny that AP said “I’m not with it” when dude has 4 kids and isn’t married. I love AP but dude is kind of an idiot when it comes to real talk. “NFL is modern day slavery” was a good one.

I think for the NFL to accept a gay it needs to be an upcoming college player and get drafted. I get the feeling current players are afraid of what will happen with media and if a kid going to let’s say…Florida State…has been openly gay since childhood and doesn’t make a huge deal about it going into the draft..that should be fine. Just pull a Moss if they ask about your sexuality and be like “next question”, and don’t give into the frenzy behind that potential story line

The immediate paralelling this with Adrian Peterson is patently dishonest. It’s clearly an attempt to suggest that Peterson would not accept a gay teammate, which he never said. He commented on gay-marriage not on whether he would accept a gay teammate.

This article is a further example of why it will be difficult for gay athletes to be accepted in professional sports. The issue of gay professional athletes has nothing to do with their sexual orientation; it has to do with what a big deal everybody makes about their sexual orientation.

Being a Bullets (Wizards) fan has never been a lot of fun, but now they’re basically stuck with picking up a final year option on Jason Collins contract or receiving massive criticism from every corner of the media. Collins scored 41 points on the season, and Washington only took him on to carve out some cap room next year. This is in no way a criticism of Collins, but rather the media; as the attention he has generated has put the team into a real bind, much like Kluwe’s situation in Minnesota.

Even if Washington does let him walk, some team will feel obligated to pay him next year, not based on his skill, but on what he represents; and that’s not how professional sports should be run.

If we want to make things easier for gay athletes, maybe we should stop treating this issue like it’s the most important development of the millenium, and treat gay athletes the way they want to be treated: the same as everybody else.

ATLfan… I am gay but that was not a choice.. I was born that way… I am ALSO a Christian which I chose… you claim to be a Christian but you obviously don’t read or follow the Bible and do what Jesus preached about…

you hope a player isn’t pressured into coming out yet you write about it at least twice a day hoping that happens. stop shoving the liberal gay agenda on this site and stick to football. what a player does in his private life is just that. I don’t want to know about it and be told what a horrible person I am by you liberals for not supporting a lifestyle I find offensive. you may not want to focus on that part or in your world do they just love each other without the physical part?

This is a key comment by Luck being that he’s a high profile player as well as a team leader; therefore, his mentioning that being gay and being in the NFL is okay with him will likely be an enormous help to any gay players, should they come out. In other words, many of the rank-n-file NFLers who might otherwise object, will likely not make trouble for an “out” players since they know that a superstar, such as Luck, is okay with it. I’ve always consider Andrew Luck an elite player–with these comments I also now look at him as an elite human being.

If I recall right, everyone who has expressed a negative (Culliver, one more whose name escapes me right now) or even not overwhelmingly positive view of gays (Wallace, who I think was unfairly criticized for what he said) have been black players. Interesting.

Somebody please let me know when Florio goes back to reporting on actual NFL football. Justin Bieber; players gay or not, congress pressuring teams to change their name; etc, etc, etc. What a joke of a site this has become. Goodbye.

“To anyone that supports gay marriage, do you also support incest? Is anyone that disagree’s with incest also a bigot?”

First, the comparison is absurd. Two consenting adults of the same gender are not committing incest so you’re committing the “slippery slope” fallacy. Someone can logically support same-sex marriage and not incestual (not sure if that’s a word) marriage.

Second, the difference between incest and same sex relationships is the potential for unfair power dynamics in a relationship. If two adults of the same gender are in a relationship, they’re both equipped to make decisions. If a child dates their parent or older siblings that creates an inherently unbalanced power dynamic where one partner has the potential to influence the other partner due to that power.

I hope that answers your question, and feel free to ask questions back (if you still are unclear, and assuming this gets published), and stop saying no one has ever given you a straight answer because I just did and I’m willing to further explain and defend it.

But the problem is everyone wants to wine that you are full of hate and discriminating just because you don’t like gay people or you don’t like other religions. But you can call straight people and Christians anything you want and its okay and perfectly acceptable if its being narrow minded and a bigot and hateful and discriminating to not support gay then wouldn’t it be the same for not supporting Christianity and straight people’s views. You can say all kinds of negative things about Christians and straight people whom don’t agree but as soon as they say something about not supporting gays or other religions then we better get the media on it and report it and make them look like the worst person alive because they don’t agree with you. sexuality is a choice you can’t help what you like i suppose, thats why their are child molesters and people who still get with their relatives even though it was the bible that said not to be with relatives and no one has an issue going by that rule.

I’m not a Stanford or Andrew Luck fan (UCLA Bruin for life!), but good for you, Andrew! I may be an anomaly, but when I was in college & law school in the 80s, just by chance I ended up with 4 gay roommates, all at different times (I’m a straight guy). With 2 of them, I shared a bedroom or dorm room. The only issues we ever had were the normal roommate issues regarding neatness, excessive noise, and things like that, and even those were rare. I was close friends with all of them. The few roomies I didn’t get along with happened to be straight but were weird in other ways. One of those, I found out disgustingly after he moved (sneaked) out in the middle of the night without paying his last month’s rent/utilities, was too lazy to go across the hall to the bathroom at night and instead kept a Big Gulp cup under his bed for “that” purpose.

Mr. Luck. I am so glad to know that you are OK with it. However, just so you know Romans 1: 24-32 tells us that GOD is not OK with it. Being that you felt a need to tell us your opinion on the matter, I shared God’s view on it according to his Holy Word. Forgive me if I tend to put less value on your opinion than the will of our Lord God Almighty.